You’ve really grown up fast right before our eyes! This year was one of lots of growth for you. Although, physically your body did not grow as rapidly as your first 2 years, your mental capacity has exploded! You, my son, are quite a little chatter box. You and I have had lots of wonderful conversations about everything under the son. I’ll definitely remember this year as the “why” year. I think you’ve used that word more than any other word.

As for the rest of your health this year has been a good one. I don’t remember having to go to the doctors as often. You didn’t require and Emergency Department visits (no stitches or boils). This year you also took some big steps towards become a big boy. We started potty training you early in January and by summer we finally stopped using diapers. Boy were mom and I happy about that!

You are now starting to have a very active imagination. You love to play games and you love to include me in your games. Some of your favorite games right now are your trains, especially your “Polar Express”, you still love your Cars. You’ve acquired quite a collection, and now you are beginning to enjoy Star Wars much to my delight. Play time is a wonderful time in your life as you have A LOT of energy. Sometimes too much for your Pappa especially when I come home tired from a long day at work.

Star Wars has now crossed 2 generations in the Mele household. At least this version of the Meles. It is still a favorite of mine, and now we share it together. You have the clone wars animated series which you refer to as “My Star Wars” and of course we’ve watched the live action Star Wars movies (all six of them) and you refer to those as “Pappa’s Star Wars”. Its really nice to have this special time together sharing something we both enjoy very much.

Speaking of Pappa… You now call me Pappat or Pappa Mele, both of which are fine by me. For a very long time you called me HUNG. Not that I minded, because, after all it is my name. However, at this time you are the only person in  the world that gets to use Pappa with me and that what makes it more special. I knew you’d come around.

We spend many evenings reading and your aunts, uncles and grandparents have all bought you some really great books to read. I know you like the books and that you remember the stories. I am going to include a really nice video of you reading the “Wonderful Journey”. You aren’t really reading but you remember so many of the details it sure seems like you are reading the story back to me. I am really proud of you Tyler. I want you to know how much I love you and look forward to seeing you each and everyday. You are growing up to be one really special guy.

We took several trips this past year. In January,  we met up with Grandma and Grandpa in San Diego. We spent a week tooling around the town, we swam in the pool, we ate and drank and we never once used your stroller even though we packed it. You want to walk on your own now! We also took a trip to Oregon During the Summer to visit Grandma and Grandpa’s house and you saw lots of fireworks on the Fourth of July. We also went to our first baseball games this year. Both times with Uncle Rich. You really like going to baseball games. Of course you’ve grown up so much during that year that you can more easily communicate with your cousins. You love your cousins Alvin and Dewey. You are also close to your younger cousin Joshua. And being an only child, you still struggle with sharing. I know its hard when you always have toys to yourself but we’ll work on that in the years to come.

I have a lot planned for you and sometimes I need to remind myself how, even though you are growing up fast, too fast sometimes, that you are still a little guy and I need to wait on many of the things I want to you experience. That being said, I am planning on several camping trips this year for you. I want you to get a chance to experience life outside your house and to enjoy all of the great things life has to offer. So I look forward to a great year ahead with you my number one son!!

Love your Pappa

I had a really good time and got to see all my aunts and uncles on poppa’s side.